The Price We Pay
by swordsandstories
Summary: Finnick had someone in his life before he knew Annie. The only problem was that the girl he loved came to games with him. In this case, someone had to die. A one-shot about a relationship torn apart by the Games.


**Hello again, you beautiful people! :)**

**This fic was really emotional for me to write. I wasn't sure how to develop the characters over the course of sucha short story but I feel like it came out okay. However, that's for you guys to decide.**

**I made this fic as a birthday present for my friend, tridentsandtales. It's a little bit late, but I hope she likes it.  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Finnick Odair. In fact, he had to put a restraining order on me because I was a little bit... Stalker-ish. But that's okay, we're friends. It even says so on Facebook. I stalk him there, too. Oh yeah, I also don't own the Hunger Games. That's Suzanne Collin's job.**

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Finnick's POV

Smoke. Smoke is everywhere. A girl my age, clad in black, is hunched on the ground, with another girl standing over her. I can't make out either of their faces or any features, but I know both of them like the back of my hand.

The girl standing is called Raquel, and she's my rival. With long, flowing black hair, green eyes, and a tall figure, she doesn't seem like much of a threat. However if you can look past her gorgeous face and into her mind, she knows over seventeen ways to murder a person with a piece of string. I have to kill her if I want to live. She has to kill me if she wants to live. That's the way it works, here in the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games; it doesn't sound very scary does it? In reality, it's every child's worst nightmare. Every year, twenty-four kids are forced to fight to the death, and only one makes it out. I've made it to the top three, but at a cost. In the past four days, I've killed seven tributes, I've nearly starved, and I've nearly lost my mind. There's only one reason I haven't gone completely and utterly crazy: the girl crouched on the ground – Raeme.

Technically, I have to kill Raeme if I want to go back home to District Four. There are only two problems with that. One: she's from District Four also. It's going to be hard if I have to kill her and then go home and see her family every day. Two: I kind of have a bit of a crush on her and that's going to make it hard to kill her. The crush is just a little one. Tiny, when you think about it. Insignificant, really. Nothing more than me bringing her daisies every morning or weaving her bracelets out of fishing nets. My crush on her is completely and totally harmless.

Who am I kidding; we're engaged, okay? And I'm going to have to kill her if I want to go home and see my family. See my problem?

"Let her go!" I yell angrily, but I don't get a response. I know Raquel heard me; she had ears like a fox. She probably just wanted to torment me for as long as possible.

The smoke starts to clear, revealing the arena. The most dominating feature is the water. A massive ocean stretches out on all sides, adding a salty tinge to the air. It doesn't quite smell like home, but it's hard to capture the fishy scent of District Four. Islands are spattered throughout the ocean, providing some reprieve from swimming. Palm trees crowd the beaches and they are the only cover in the entire arena. I'm positioned with the ocean at my back, Raquel and Raeme on the beach in front of me, and the palm tree forest just beyond them. Nowhere for me to go unless I want to leave Raeme to die.

"Raquel. Let her go." My voice is quieter this time, barely heard over the crashing sound of the waves. My left hand automatically tightens around my trident when Raquel cackles evilly.

"Yeah right, Fishboy. If I let her go," she gives a menacing yank on the rope wrapped around Raeme's neck, "I'll have a trident in my throat before I can take a step. I'm not stupid, that's for sure."

I open my mouth to make a witty remark, but Raquel pulls a knife out the front pocket of her pants and my mouth snaps shut. She presses the knife to Raeme's throat, just below where she's holding the rope.

"Finnick-" Raeme's cry cuts off when Raquel yanks her hair hard enough to jerk her head back spastically. I can't stop the growl that slips between my teeth at the joy plainly inscribed on Raquel's face.

"You see, Finnick," she croons, pressing the knife harder against Raeme's throat, "What the Capitol wants is a blood fest. And I'm not going to deprive the Capitol of what they want. This is a show, after all. And I want to go out with a bang."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Raquel slides the razor sharp point of the knife against Raeme's throat. Raeme whimpers as a small line of blood begins to trickle down her esophagus.

"You'll die for that." I take two steps forward in the sand, adjusting my trident as I walk. It's comforting weight did nothing to help ease my anxiety. I was scared. Scared that she would hurt Raeme anymore than she already had.

"Ah ah ahh," Raquel clucks, crouching behind Raeme a bit farther. I can see her hand tighten around the knife's handle. "One more step Finnick-y and you're poor little friend here is dead." I stop moving; glaring at her with a furious passion instead. I've never really hated anybody before. Not like this. This kind of blood lust made my vision sharpen, my movements purposeful, my mind focused. It made me want to see her die. It made me want to cause her pain. No one hurts my fiancé.

No one.

And it certainly wasn't going to be some bitch from District 2 on top of it.

Raquel shifted, standing just a little bit straighter, determined I wouldn't budge while she held Raeme so close to her. She thought I was weak. She thought I wasn't skilled enough. She thought I would never dare to attack her while she held someone so precious to me close. She was wrong.

Lunging, I threw my trident, which soared through the air in an arc of deadly glittering beauty. Raquel was far enough away from me to register what was happening, but too close to be able to dodge the weapon. Instead of moving, she made eye contact with me. And smiled.

That's when I felt fear lurch in my stomach.

One flick of her wrist was all she needed. One flick of her wrist was all it took. Blood started pouring down Raeme's throat as my trident embedded itself in Raquel's chest. I heard a sick gurgle, and then nothing. Nothing besides the sound of the ocean behind me, and the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze on the other side of the two bodies.

I didn't move. I couldn't. My entire body felt like it was paralyzed. Was Raeme dead? Was Raquel dead? Would Raeme make it? How bad was her throat? _Had Raquel killed her?_

A boom roared in the distance, the sound echoing off the water. It reverberated in my ears, and it seemed to shake me awake. Someone was dead. Was it Raeme, or Raquel?

"Shit."

I start running, running across the sand. I have to find out. It has to be Raeme that lives. Raeme can't die. Raeme can't die. She just _can't_. If she dies, there's no reason for me to live. I need her. I need her like a fish needs water, like plants need the sun.

She.

Can't.

Be.

Dead.

I trip and sprawl on the sand next to the two bodies, desperate for information. A quick assessment of the scene didn't tell me much. There is blood everywhere, so much blood - blood from the wound on Raquel's chest and blood from Raeme's throat. It is spilled across the sand, staining it a dark blackish color. Raquel's body is draped over the back half of Raeme's, from the way she fell backwards when my trident lodged itself her chest. Raquel's arm is twisted at a weird angle, and her eyes stare into the sky eerily. Traces of that feral grin are still inscribed on her face.

I shove the body off of Raeme's, not even bothering to check if Raquel is breathing. Only one body is alive, and only one body matters to me.

"Raeme." I gently nudge her body, turning it over in the sand. Her body is limp, and fear strikes through me. What if Raquel's final act was enough to kill her? I readjust the body, pulling on her torso until her head is resting in my lap, and I start to examine her throat.

The cut's deep, and in a strange line. It starts shallow on one end, and trails into a deep, raggedy slash on the other side, but it's strange shape looks purposeful. The shallow part is engraved just barely enough to cause Raeme to bleed, and it's in a small crescent shape. The deeper side of the cut appears to be connected to the crescent, but it's in a somewhat straight line. I could tell that this was Raquel's final attempt to kill Raeme, and it was bleeding profusely.

"Hold on, girl. I've got you. I've got you," I murmur. I have got to check her pulse, right after I stop the bleeding. Trying not to move her, I strip off my shirt and brush the sand out of the way as best as I can before I tie it around her neck.

"That bitch," I curse, as I move to cover the slash in her neck. The cut was in a near perfect shape of the number '2'. Raquel's final action was to spite me, and to try to make her District proud. If it wasn't someone I loved lying in my arms because of her actions, I just might have understood why she did it. But in this case, all it does is manage to piss me off even worse.

"Finnick." The word is so quiet, I almost miss it, but it causes my heart to soar. She's alive! Raeme's alive! I can't stop the tears from rolling down my face when I hear her voice.

I brush her white-blonde hair out of her eyes as they flutter open. "Rae," I say past the hitch in my throat. "You're okay."

"Finnick," she repeats, her voice still a whisper. I can feel my makeshift bandage starting to soak through with blood, and I know it's going to be all over my body if I can't get it stopped soon.

"Raeme. Stay with me, please. Stay with me," I beg. I can feel the teardrops dripping off my face, and at this point I don't care if she notices. I want her to notice. If she notices, she's alive.

"Finnick." This time my name is barely a croak, and she attempts to move her hand towards my face. I take her hand in the one that isn't soaked with her blood, and press it against my cheek. Her hand is so small and shaky, but its touch is reassuring. I know this hand. I've held it countless of times. I've watched it turn simple ingredients into a magnificent cake. I've experienced its extreme gentleness as it wraps bandages on injured arms. I've witnessed the quick, elegant movements it makes as it weaves fishing nets together. I've felt it's sharp slap almost as many times as I have felt it caress my face. I know that hand. I love that hand. It's home.

At this point I can feel the blood soaking past the bandage and starting to seep onto my lap. That's when I know it's too much. Raeme is loosing too much blood. She's never going to make it. There can only be one victor, and that victor has to be me.

"So…beautiful," Raeme murmurs, her electric blue eyes meeting mine. Her face is starting to blur badly, but I don't wipe the tears away from my eyes. I need her close to me. The tears can wait.

I offer her a smile, nuzzling my face into her hand. "No, Rae. You're beautiful." There's a pause for a moment, as we stare into each other's eyes.

"I…love…you," she whispers. The words make my heart flutter yet ache at the same time. Blood is starting to trickle out of her mouth now, and it can't be long before… before… before she dies.

"I love you, too." I say into her hand. I lean over her and kiss her forehead, moving the hand near my face to my chest. I press it against my heart, trying to keep her close to me.

Despite the blood and the pain, Raeme smiles at me. Her blue eyes are starting to glaze over a little bit, but she's still talking. Still trying to talk. Trying to tell me something. I clench her hand tighter; tears streaming openly down my face.

"Si…ng. Sing…our…song. Please."

Her breath is slowing down as more blood seeps through my fingers and onto my lap. The trickle of blood near her mouth has thickened, and the sight brings on more tears.

Our song doesn't have words, because it doesn't need words. It's emotion, raw emotion that made it so amazing. When I start singing, it's nothing more than a croak. As I go on, my voice strengthens and it starts to sound eerily beautiful combined with the lulling sound of the ocean.

I sing of our pain; the pain of a couple ripped brutally apart by the whims of others. The pain of loss as the couple is forced to find each other in a dangerous game, never knowing whether or not the other was alive. The pain of a couple forced to fight, to kill, in order to remain together. The pain of a relationship that neither ever wants to end, but one they know has to. The pain felt as one of them dies. Our pain.

I sing of our love; the love of two friends who quickly become something more. The love that was discovered by the ocean, and now the love that will die by the ocean. The love of two young adults who hardly know what they are getting into, but don't care. The love we have for each other. Our love.

I sing of our bond; the bond of two humans who want nothing more than to live and be happy. The bond that has saved both of our lives several times. The bond that makes life worth living. The bond of two people who need each other to stay sane. The bond of two lovers who care for each other so intensely, they believe nothing will ever tear them apart. The bond we share. Our bond.

My voice is starting to drift lower as I sing Raeme to sleep. Her eyes never shut, and that smile never leaves her face. She is beautiful. She is my light at the end of the tunnel, my star that I look to for guidance, my true other half. She's the reason why I keep breathing. Without her, I'd be lost.

As the last note of our song fades into the distance, a single cannon booms.

Already, I am lost, and I'm trying to find a reason to keep breathing.

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**To be honest, I was really inspired by the song "Doomsday" by Murray Gold when I was writing the end of this fic. It's Doctor Who music, but it's so sad and it tied in so well with this. The voice in that song is the tune I somewhat pictured Finnick singing. Of course, it would be in a guy's voice instead. The song is just so emotional and heart-wrenching. It makes me tear up when I listen to it. Her voice is so moving.**

**Review Please! I really need ALL of your input and criticism. It motivates me to keep writing, plus it makes me feel good to know you read my story, even if you hated it. :)**

**Have a Fantastic Day!**


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